Aiming for Perfect Asian Tapas, Even in a Pandemic

Mokyo was meant to be a step up in refinement, but the pandemic got in the way. There’s a handsome interior of whitewashed brick, wood floors and industrial-modern chairs, only one-fourth of which can be occupied under current safety rules. At tables set on the sidewalk, and on the pavement from Thursdays to Saturdays, you can still see the servers trying to go through the motions of a somewhat formal service style, even as they are largely drowned out by all the other events on St. Marks, which during one of my meals included a small brass band playing somewhere out of sight.

Mokyo put together a brief but thoughtful list of sake and soju, but when it reopened for outdoor dining this summer it borrowed a gimmick from Thursday Kitchen: glow-in-the-dark cocktails served in plastic pouches punctured by a straw.

Over the summer, Ms. Hyun adapted some dishes to stand up to the heat outdoors. Now she is adjusting others so they will keep their heat when the air turns cold. She shortened her menu when she reopened, but she has been adding dishes back and hopes to restore its preplague length soon.

Whatever changes she has made, though, the food at Mokyo retains a level of complexity and polish that not many restaurants would bother attempting this year.

The corn dumplings are a successful repurposing of ravioli to deliver the flavors of Mexican grilled corn, in the form of a juicy, butter-laden purée of smoked corn. There is a whisper of truffle oil in the filling, and if the prospect makes you want to run for the hills, you should taste the way the tart and smoldering salsa verde keeps the truffle in its place.

There are Taiwanese flat noodles dressed with brick-red chile oil that pulses with Sichuan peppercorns. You know this combination, but not what’s coming next: the fresh, reviving, summery aroma of basil leaves and chopped, toasted Brazil nuts. From one wavy strand to the next, the dressing wobbles between dan dan noodles, spaghetti with pesto and some other, delicious thing that until now was found only in Ms. Hyun’s wonderfully busy imagination.

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source: nytimes.com